


And If You Say You're Okay, I'm Gonna Heal You Anyway

by ObsidionWingsofMidnight



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Slow Updates, also law sings a lot, book of a 1000 days au, despite what goes on in the description, different kind of magic, except this takes place for longer than a thousand days lol, i'm still writing it but i have no self control and started another one, if you've ever followed any of my other fics you know exactly what i mean, in case if wasn't obvious by the relationship tags this is a lawlu fic, in fact you may be like what about that other fic you're still writing, it just be like that sometimes, it will make sense, it's a thing for him in this fic, law and luffy will be roughly the same age, law gets stuck in shitty situations because underneath that tough exterior he's a softy, the slowest updates imaginable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-06-20 23:35:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidionWingsofMidnight/pseuds/ObsidionWingsofMidnight
Summary: Law tries to run from his problems and gets into an even stickier one. One that involves him getting locked up in a tower for the next seven years because the girl he's sworn to serve refuses to marry the man her mother ordered her to. To top it off the boy she's sworn herself to instead is an annoying idiot that never stops laughing.It was going to be a long seven years.





	1. An Unfortunate Beginning

Sometimes Law wondered if he really was as cursed as people said he was. Maybe the gods had taken one look at him when he’d been born and said to themselves, “Yes, that child’s fate is to live a terrible life that no one would ever wish for themselves.” It was an idea that became harder and harder to dispute as the years progressed.  

His early years had been lovely, normal and loving as could be, growing up with a family in a seaside town that prospered. Flevance had been beautiful in its prime, and Law had run wild in fields covered in white grass, among white trees, along white beaches. When he and his little sister got tired of that they’d return home and learn whatever songs their parents wanted to teach them that day. His fondest memories existed in a haze of white and gentle voices singing.  

Then came the white plague. It appeared out of nowhere, taking the city by surprise and taking nearly a quarter of its population with its first strike in a matter of weeks. The trees, the grass, the sand, all the land remained as white as it had ever been, but now the people were suddenly starting to match the scenery. Everyone who got infected- which was almost every person in the city- had to watch as their skin developed white patches that spread across their bodies. They grew weak, and every breath became a painful experience. Even their hair started to bleach itself white.  

The surrounding cities panicked, and Law’s hometown was quarantined to keep the sickness from spreading. People from other cities actively drove back anyone who tried to escape, killing anyone who got too close to the edge of town. No efforts were made to try and help his people because everyone not infected was too afraid to get close to anyone who was.  

The only ones who tried to do anything were Law’s parents. They were simple healers, nothing too fancy, but each night they sang songs of healing to their ailing children. They sang a different one each night, desperate to find one that would have any affect.  

And one night they noticed that it began to work. Law started towards the road to recovery, and they began to hope that maybe they would be alright in the end.  

But life was cruel, and the gods more so.  

By the order of a single nobleman, Flevance was wiped off the map. The White City became nothing more than a pile of ash and bones.  

Law was the sole survivor, having been smuggled out of the city in a pile of corpses. His mother, his father, his sister, everyone he’d ever known and cared for- gone.  

He’d wandered the countryside on his own for a while, using most of his energy to sing himself better. It was practically unheard of for someone to effectively sing themselves better, as healing songs were most effective if being administered by someone else, but if one willed it hard enough they could do it. And Law had willed it with all his might, refusing to die from the plague after all he’d been through.  

He felt himself slowly grow stronger as the days passed until finally the constant pain he woke up with disappeared. The only sign of what he’d been through were the pale patches of skin that remained even after he was healed.  

Of course, it would have been near impossible for him to survive on his own in his state, so it was fortunate that Corazon stumbled across him- quite literally- one fateful day. He was still sick at the time, so he’d been hunched in on himself and waiting for his chronic pain to die down to a more manageable level when the man had tripped over him. Hardly the most dignified introduction for either of them, but somehow they bonded with each other anyway.  

Corazon said nothing about the way Law would sing himself healing songs every night, but Law could tell he knew what he was infected with. Corazon was the first person Law had met that wasn’t afraid of him just because his skin had white splotches on it. He treated Law better than anyone had since the white plague hit, even insisting on Law calling him Cora instead.  

It took a while, but eventually Law got better and the two traveled easier back to Cora’s home. Although originally from Thoughts of Under, the older man had since moved to Vera’s Blessing. It was a long way from where the two met, just on the border between Titor’s Garden and Thoughts of Under, virtually on the opposite side of the Eight Realms.  

They lived happily together for the next five years, minding their own business in the countryside of Vera’s Blessing. Law was finally starting to think that his life had taken a turn for the better.  

But then of course, tragedy struck again.  

Cora’s older brother Donquixote Doflamingo, sent him a letter requesting his presence. According to the letter, he wanted to mend the fraying bond between them. Cora had a kind heart, so he agreed to come visit with Law in tow.  

Maybe Doflamingo really had wanted to make up with his brother, or maybe he’d been lying all along. But as soon as his eyes settled on Law his plans changed.  

Things started off…. alright. Law felt mildly uncomfortable being around Doflamingo, but he couldn’t really place his finger on why. At first he just thought it was because everyone seemed to be wary of the man. It wasn’t until that night when Doflamingo cornered him on his own that he realized how wrong he was.  

As it turned out, Doflamingo had been the one to order the destruction of Flevance. There was sick satisfaction in his eyes when he told this to Law, and the teen had to hide his revulsion and rage before it caused him problems. He would have struck the man down right then and there, but logic stayed his hand. Doflamingo was a nobleman, the Lord’s war chief in fact, and striking him was a crime punishable by death. So Law didn’t react when the man pulled him flush against him and leered in his face about what a special trophy he’d make. The last survivor or the White City.  

As soon as Doflamingo let him go, Law rushed back to Corazon’s side and told him what happened. His guardian had been incensed, but he knew his brother even better than Law did. He knew that it was too dangerous to confront Doflamingo about it, so the two packed up their things and made their getaway before the sun rose.  

But Under, god of trickery, was on Doflamingo’s side. One of his men had followed them, and he and Cora crossed blades until Cora mistepped and the other man ran him through. Law wanted to kill him, but Cora used his last breaths to beg him to run away.  

So Law ran. He ran as fast as his legs would take him, and he only looked back to see if he was being followed. Perhaps Doflamingo’s henchman was only under orders to kill Cora, or perhaps he’d been told not to kill Law so that he’d still make a good trophy. Whatever the case was, he didn’t follow. Still, Law could have sworn that he heard the maniacal laughter of Doflamingo as he ran away.  

It was days later when Law finally allowed himself to properly rest. He was far enough past the border that he figured the other wasn’t coming after him. Not yet anyways.  

He considered making the long journey back to Vera’s Blessing, back to the place he called home, but he knew he couldn’t return. Doflamingo knew where he and Cora lived- he wouldn’t be safe there.  

In the end he decided to stay in Titor’s Garden. He’d go to the capital and find work there. He wasn’t sure what kind of work, but he was sure he could find something. Anything to keep him away from Doflamingo’s attention. Something simple.  

It was easier said than done.  

No one was interested in hiring some random kid with no previous job experience. Eventually one person was kind enough to point him in the direction of the house of chiefs, where they could assign him a job based on what skilled he had.  

The woman in charge asked him questions, and he answered them to the best of his ability without giving too much away. By the end of it she declared that he’d do best working in the stables. It was hardly glamorous, but it worked for Law. Beggars couldn’t be choosers after all. Especially when he was trying to hide.  

She stood up to get someone to escort him there, groaning and holding her back as she did so.  

Law, without thinking about how he was supposed to avoid gaining attention, immediately asked her if she wanted help with the ache that was hurting her. She agreed, a curious glint in her eyes, but he ignored it in favor of concentrating on the task at hand. He laid his hands on her back and began to softly sing the tune for body aches. Little by little she began to relax, and Law knew by the end that it had worked.  

She turned to him once he finished, looking him over again. “You a mucker then? I’ve heard of their healing songs before. Never thought much of them until now,” she said.  

Muckers were a slang word for the people who lived on the steppes near the Sacred Mountain. Simple country folk to most people. Law could work with that. It probably wasn’t that different from the way he lived with Cora.  

“Um, yes, but-” 

“Do you know how to sew?” she cut him off.  

He blinked in confusion at that, but answered truthfully. “Yes.” He learned how to mend things early on with Cora, since the man was constantly ruining his clothes in stupid ways like accidentally lighting them on fire or getting caught on his own fishing hook.  

She hummed thoughtfully. “How many of those mucker songs do you know?” 

“Plenty, I suppose. I know ones for how to birth a foal, how to get a horse to calm down-” he listed off all the animal related ones he could think of. Anything that sounded like it could have any use in a stable.  

She wasn’t interested in those though. “No, no. I mean ones like the one you sang for me. Ones for helping with sore backs and body pains,” she gestured at the whole of her elderly self.  

He paused before deciding how to answer. “…. I know a fair amount of those too,” he replied hesitantly. Oh gods, she wasn’t going to send him to the shamans was she? He needed a job less conspicuous.  

“Hmm. I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to make you a manservant. Those royal brats are always going through so many of them.” Then she sent him off without letting him get a word in edgewise, pushing him into the side of his escort that led him to the home of a little old man that was to train him.  

He was nervous about his position being too noticeable- what if one day whatever lord or lady he was serving met up with the nobles from Thoughts of Under? Upon further reflection however, he realized that there were so many princes and princesses from the royal family of Titor’s Garden that it was unlikely Doflamingo would find any of their many servants noteworthy.  

He trained for his future position for the next year, being one of the fortunate few also there that already knew how to read and write. It wasn’t so bad. Some of his classmates were annoying, but Law found most people annoying anyways.  

Then came the day that he was finally deemed fit for service. He arrived at the palace confident in his abilities, attempting not to gawk at the grandness in front of him.  

It was beautiful there, with high white walls that sort of reminded him of Flevance, although nothing in his hometown had been nearly as impressive or elaborate. Everything surrounding the palace was lush and green, bursting with life. Certainly fit for the rulers of a kingdom named after the home of the god of animals.  

The inside was less awe inspiring. Not because it was any less lavishly designed, but rather because of the mayhem the inhabitants were in. People were running around, wailing and yelling, all in various states of distress.  

Law sat by himself on a deserted bench for hours before he came to the conclusion that nobody was going to tell him what he was supposed to do. He took matters into his own hands and decided to go looking for the chief of staff. He passed dozens of people in the hallways, but no one spared him a single glance. It was sort of worrying, but nobody would stop to tell him what the hell was going on, so he just continued on his quest.  

He stumbled upon a room that everyone else seemed to have abandoned, although it looked like swarms of people had passed through it before. There were clothes scattered all over the floor, jewelry tossed every which way, papers balled up and tossed in places, and a book that looked like it had half its pages ripped out and thrown all over.  

He wandered inside, curious about what had gone in there and nearly had a heart attack when he met the eyes of a silently weeping girl.  

Law liked to tell himself that he was a cold-hearted loner, but in reality he was actually a big softy, especially for crying people. He took a tentative step towards her. “Excuse me miss, but would you mind telling me what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” he asked.  

She looked at him with her watery brown eyes uncomprehending. He looked over her as best as he could without moving closer or getting in her space when she was so distressed. She didn’t look like she had any injuries, besides a red mark on her cheek. Maybe someone had slapped her. Other than that, it didn’t look like there was anything physically wrong with her. She looked a mess nonetheless. Her pink hair was in tangles, her eyes puffy and red, nose sniffling, and still in her nightgown.  

He was just about to leave when suddenly her hand snapped out to grip his wrist in a vice like grip. “Who are you?” she asked in a warbling voice.  

Law wasn’t exactly inclined to answer, but he figured that maybe if he did she’d let him go. “My name’s Law. Trafalgar Law.” He tried to pull his arm gently away, but she hung on, so he continued, “I was sent here to become someone’s manservant. Today’s my first day.” 

“Whose manservant?” she demanded with a ferocity that surprised him given how timid she had seemed only seconds earlier.  

He frowned. “Well, no one’s yet. I was told they’d assign me to someone once I got here since there’s so many lord and ladies.” He was really starting to get a bad feeling about all this.  

“I’m a lady. Serve me,” she said, and he nearly gawked at that. Looking back on it, it should have been more obvious to him. After all, what sort of servant would have been allowed to stay in their night clothes well into the afternoon as the entire palace was in uproar?  

“Um, I don’t think-” 

“Serve me! That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? Swear you’ll serve me!” Ordinarily he would have hated someone saying something like that to him, but in these circumstances he actually felt bad for her. There was something in her tone of voice that sounded so desperate and afraid that he couldn’t refuse. It didn’t help that those big brown eyes of hers reminded him of his little sister Lami’s. 

“Okay. I swear I’ll serve you,” he told her softly. He was probably going to regret it later, but there was no taking it back now.  

She calmed down after that, letting him lead her over to her vanity and dropping listlessly into the chair in front of it. He dug around until he found a brush, spending the next few minutes untangling her hair and even braiding it the way he would sometimes do for Lami. Once that was done he went to her closet and picked through the clothes that weren’t making their home on the ground and found her something presentable. He chose a silky dark brown dress that would have been the kind of color more suited to a herder but somehow managed to look regal in this setting.  

He turned his back to let her dress herself as he picked clothes up from the floor, but she gave up halfway through, so he had to turn back around and help her again. Fortunately, he wasn’t a stranger to nudity, growing up in a healer’s house in Flevance, so seeing her in her underwear didn’t embarrass him.  

She still looked pretty miserable by the time he finished, but at least she looked a little more put together than before.  

He was wrestling a pair of shoes onto her feet when her mother stormed in.  

He’d heard a lot about her esteemed majesty Lady Charlotte Linlin- known as Big Mom to the common folk- but seeing her in person was something else. She shared her daughter’s hair color, but that was it. Unlike the girl Law had been taking care of for the past half hour she had hair that fell around her face in large curls, fiery orange eyes, and was overall just enormous. And he wasn’t just talking about weight either- the queen was even taller than Law, and he was pretty damn tall for his age at nearly six feet.  

“Still wailing about it, Bonney?” she snorted at her daughter’s renewed tears. “You have only yourself to blame.” She looked almost sympathetic for a half second before shocking Law by slapping her daughter hard across the face. Guess he knew where the other mark had come from.  

“What’s this here?” Big Mom sniffed, looking straight at Law. She took in his faded yellow tunic, plain wool pants, and the well worn boots on his feet. “You some sort of mucker? What are you doing here?” 

He swallowed down his apprehension and replied, “Yes, I’m from the mountains, and I came here last year to find-” 

“I don’t want your life’s story, boy,” she huffed down her nose at him. “You’re not much to look at, are you?” she said, eyeing the pale patches of skin that spread across his face. Law resisted the urge to repeat the phrase back to her.  

“Oh, I remember now. They said they were sending some mucker to be a manservant to one of my children. What a situation you’re walked into. Can’t be worse than what you’ve been through though, can it?” Law was afraid for a moment that she had figured out where he was actually from, but her next words quelled those thoughts. “I hear those muckers live off of grass alone up there. Bet you barely know what to do with a roof over your head.” 

Law may not have actually been from the steppes, but he was indignant on their behalf. This woman acted like they were all barbarians living up there. Law had met muckers before, and they weren’t any different from anyone else when it got down to it. Nobles sure were rude.  

Another hard slap to Bonney’s face made Law flinch. Big Mom only chortled. “There we go. She’d gone so quiet after I got used to the sound of her crying. Weep all you want, nobody will hear you alone up in that tower.” 

For a split second Bonney actually seemed brave as she stood tall to face her mother. “I won’t be alone. My new manservant is going with me,” she said, grabbing Law by the arm and pulling him close.  

“Is that what you think? Well, you don’t deserve a manservant, and I certainly won’t force one to go with you. So,” she turned to look at Law,” do you choose to go with her?” 

Law cleared his throat. “Go where?” 

Big Mom positively roared with laughter after that. “Oh, now I see!” She roamed over to Bonney’s closet and began ripping dresses off their hangers to decorate the floor, ruining Law’s progress on cleaning up the room. “I arranged for my dear daughter to marry the highly esteemed Lord Kaido from Thoughts of Under, the most powerful of the eight realms. And does my daughter thank me or fulfill her duty? No! She scorns her responsibilities and tells me she’s promised to Khan Luffy from Song for Evela. A lesser realm that won’t bring me any advantages through a marriage! With a brat that doesn’t even deserve his title yet. Ungrateful child. So I’m locking her up in an old watchtower that will serve as her prison. We’ll see if seven years shut behind bricks won’t stop her nonsense and make her a little more grateful. So what say you, mucker? Will you lock yourself up in that tower with her?” Her beady orange eyes bore holes into him.  

He looked between the towering form of Big Mom and her trembling daughter who still clenched Law’s arm tight in her hands. He imagined Bonney up in that tower alone for seven years, looked at her big brown eyes and saw his sister standing beside him instead. He remembered how lonely he was after Flevance burned, after Corazon was struck down. How it felt to have no one.  

He stood a little taller and turned to face Big Mom. “Yes. I’ll stay with her,” he said firmly.  

The older woman slapped him so hard he stumbled, but Bonney was there to catch him before he hit the ground. He was only dully aware of what happened after that, everything seeming to pass by in a haze, but he remembered three things. First, he remembered hearing Big Mom’s thunderous yelling as she stomped out. Second, he remembered how helpless he felt thinking about how he was going to spend the next seven years locked away in a tower.  

But the thing he remembered the clearest was the smile on Bonney’s face as she held him close and stroked his hair, thanking him without words for not abandoning her to her fate.  

The next seven years were definitely going to suck, but maybe- _just maybe_ \- it would be worth it.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said it in the tags, but I'll say it here too- this is an au of Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Which is in turn inspired by Maid Maleen, so there's that. book of a thousand days is also heavily influenced by medieval mongolia. So the setting is like part shannon hale's version, part one piece, part whatever i had to do to make them meld together lol
> 
> I read a theory once about how someone thinks bonney is actually one of big mom's kids, and i was really into it, so i've decided to go with that for this fic. Also in case it wasn't clear there will be no law/ bonney in this fic. they're just besties through bad circumstances.  
> Luffy will show up in the next chapter to sweep law off his feet.
> 
> name of the fic comes from the song andante, andante by abba cuz i've been really into mamma mia and its sequel and i really love that song when lily james sings it. and yes, law is totally going to sing it at some point lol
> 
> Edit: JOKES I changed the title cuz i discovered that the song The Cure by Lady Gaga is like....the entirety of Luffy's relationship with Law lmao. I mean really all of just really sums up their relationship. I mean if you listen to the chorus you don't even have to ship them, it's literally just like Luffy's relationship with literally any of his crew mates lol


	2. A Great Big Fat Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter: luffy

It had been nearly two months since Law had first been shoved into the tower with Bonney, and he was starting to get worried. In fairness, he’d basically been worrying since the very second they’d been locked up, but now he was getting extra worried.  

What was he worried? Well, aside from the usual concerns about how they were going to last for seven years in there, like food and water supplies- which were provided but troubling nonetheless- Bonney’s mental stability seemed to be in a decline.  

They’d gotten to know each other pretty well during their time together, and while they hardly knew all there was about each other’s lives, Law could still tell that Bonney was beginning to act a little… Off. In her best moments she was a loud, brash girl who spoke her mind. She told him all about her numerous siblings- which ones she liked best, which ones she detested, who was in favor with their mother, who got along with who, etc. Her favorites were a pair of younger twins named Lola and Chiffon, as well as an older brother named Katakuri. The latter, she regretfully supplied, had gone missing not long before her mother had announced Bonney’s engagement. He’d been fighting in the Unclaimed Wastes when he disappeared, so it was widely assumed that he was dead.  

Talking about him occasionally prompted her worse moments, where she grew taciturn and quiet, crying now and then about the way her life turned out. Even then, that seemed perfectly normal to Law, given the circumstances.  

But lately something odd had begun to creep into her behavior. There were times when Law would call her name or try talking to her, but she simply stared right past him as if she couldn’t hear him. And it wasn’t the same way as she did when she ignored him on purpose where she pouted her lips and scowled at the wall. No, now it was as if she were seeing something very far away that Law couldn’t see through the bricks of their prison.  

It was the way she sometimes jumped at nonexistent monsters in the shadows, the way she paled and stared in horror at the way the lamps flickered.  

He knew it wasn’t because of some lingering childlike fear of the dark. She never seemed bothered by it before. He could not, however, figure out for the life of him what it was that afflicted her so. It was rapidly getting worse, the almost comfortable camaraderie between them turning to tense silence.  

He tried to help her as best as he could. He sang her to sleep every night, sometimes staying long after her eyes drifted shut to try and keep her mind peaceful and free of terrors. When she was particularly twitchy he sang to her in the day too. He sang a good many songs for healing the mind, of calmness, of being brave, but it didn’t seem to do much good. At the very least she still liked it when he sang, so he kept it up as long as he could. Sometimes he even just sang regular old songs, that weren’t much good for anything other than keeping them both occupied.  

He was infinitely grateful that Bonney’s mother had been generous enough to give them honey with their food supplies, as he used it to soothe his throat. Big Mom may have been one of the worst people Law had ever set eyes upon (and he’d seen a fair share) but at least she was wealthy enough to afford to feed them. She’d left them with what was supposed to be seven years' worth of grain, dried meats, a well, a handful of spices, and a few dozen jars of honey.  

It was hardly the most glamorous of supplies, but it was better than what Law expected. Besides, there were plenty of people who would have killed to have this much food-  _literally_.  

Seeing all that food stocked up in the bottom of their tower nearly made Law faint the first time he saw it. He’d never seen so much food in his life, and it was hard to grasp that such a commodity existed, let alone at his fingertips. Once the initial shock wore off he’d calculated how far to make things last for their allotted time though. Just because it looked like it would last him a lifetime, didn’t mean it actually would.  

Bonney used to complain about the amount Law would feed her, claiming that he was trying to starve her or that the only reason she had to eat more than him was because he was such a twig.  

Now she barely said anything about it. 

Still, he held out hope for her. Maybe it was just a rough patch and she’d go back to her usual blustering self soon enough. A traitorous voice in the back of his head told him that he was going to be disappointed. He pushed it down and continued to sing for her anyways.  

It was a hard adjustment to go from being a noble to being locked away in a tower with only one other person, very little fresh air, and even less sunlight. But they would make it through this- Law would make sure of that.  

One day they would walk out of this blasted tower, and they would be free.  

* * *

Some days Law wondered if he was going insane. He thought he heard Cora’s voice a couple times, but as soon as he turned around to reply he’d realize what he was doing and stop himself. Cora was dead, and there was no changing that.  

He began a journal, cataloguing his days in the tower, trying valiantly to fend off boredom. It was also helpful just to keep track of things. Every day seemed to blend together in there.  

Sometimes he would open up the little metal flap on the wall- their only connection with the outside world- and press his face as close to its edges as he could, just so he could try and breathe truly fresh air. He’d try in vain to strain his eyes up further, but no matter what he did he could never see the sky. The flap was simply too close to the ground to provide a better angle for that.  

Every now and then he’d wonder to himself what the sky looked like that day. Would it be blue? Would there be clouds? Was the sun shining clearly? He’d never truly now until he saw it again for himself. And he had seven years before he could do that again.  

* * *

One evening Law heard a voice calling outside their tower. At first he thought he was imagining things, but after a few more minutes it became apparent that there was actually a person outside their walls trying to talk to them. Or rather, trying to talk to Bonney.  

Someone was whisper yelling her name.  

Curiosity piqued, Law crept closer to the metal hatch in the wall.  

“Psst! Bonney! Are you awake in there? It’s me- Luffy!”  

That actually surprised Law, and he glanced back to gauge Bonney’s reaction. He expected her to look happy at the prospect of reuniting with her preferred fiancé, but instead he was met with a look of terror. He frowned, but as soon as he opened his mouth she was across the room and gripping his shoulders.  

“Wha-?!” She slapped a hand over his mouth to cut him off.  

“Listen to me, Law,” she said, fierce desperation shining in her eyes. “You have to be the one to talk to him.” 

He shot her an incredulous look at that, wishing she’d uncover his mouth so he could ask her why in the world he’d do such a thing.  

As is she could read his thoughts she replied, “Just do it. Pretend you’re me though. He’s never heard my voice or met me in person. We’ve only ever spoke in letters, and I need to know more about what he’s like in person. I need to know if I can trust him.” She finally released him, and he rubbed his jaw from where her fingers had gripped him.  

“You’ve never met him and you still agreed to marry him?” he asked. It didn’t seem like the Bonney thing to do. She told him before that she wanted to marry for love, and he’d automatically assumed she’d been talking about the khan. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.  

“Please, Law. Just do this for me,” she begged. There was a childish whine to her voice, but beneath it he could see real fear.  

He sighed. He always was a sucker for scared little girls. “Fine,” he grumbled, pretending to ignore the relief on her face.  

Cautiously, he opened the metal flap and peered through the small opening. He couldn’t see much- just the grass in the fading light and a pair of tan feet clad in leather sandals.  

“Khan?” he asked quietly.  

He was immediately answered with an exuberant, “Bonney!” The boy outside the tower crouched down to get closer to the hatch, but his face remained out of sight.  

“I heard you got locked up in this tower because of our betrothal! I’m sorry! I told my advisors I’d come break you out, but they said it will cause all-out war between Song for Evela and Titor’s Garden! I think that’s stupid, and your mom’s a mean old hag, but I don’t want to start a war. It’s already bad enough that we have to keep sending people out to fight the tribes in the Unclaimed Wastes. Even my brothers have left to go fight. I’d break you out of here anyways, but Zoro won’t let me. He’s making sure the guards are occupied right now. Are you doing okay in there?”  

All of this was said so quickly it took Law a moment to realize he’d been asked a question. He cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m doing fine in here. It could be worse,” he said, looking at Bonney hesitantly.  

“Oh good!” the khan replied. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “Huh. Your voice is a lot lower than I expected. You don’t really sound like a girl. Shishishishishi!”  

And well, Law probably should have said he had a bad cold, or some other lame but slightly plausible excuse, but instead he retorted, “That’s because I’m not a girl, dumbass.” He slapped a hand over his own mouth this time, eyes widening and looking frantically at Bonney who was hunched over with her back facing Law, shoulders shaking with what he strongly suspected was laughter. Oh gods, he’d just called a noble a dumbass straight to their face. Or well, straight to his feet anyway. He was so dead.  

Instead of being shouted at for his offensive behavior, he was merely met with more laughter. He waited to see if it was the malicious kind, but it seemed like the khan genuinely found the situation funny.  

“You’re a funny guy, Bonney. Say, why are you called Bonney anyways? I thought that was a girl’s name. I totally thought you were a girl this whole time- was I wrong?” 

Law scrambled to find an answer to the question that didn’t sound suspicious. Then, as if the gods took pity on him, a solution occurred to him. “Bonney’s not my real name- it’s my sister’s. I just used it when I wrote to you because it was easier that way. People treat you different when they think you’re a girl,” he said.  

The khan hummed thoughtfully. “I guess so. I have friends who are girls, and they do get treated differently. I have to threaten a lot of people about it sometimes. Not that I usually do. They’re pretty good about taking care of things themselves. So, what’s your name then?” 

He paused, eyes flicking to Bonney for a split second. “Katakuri,” he replied. She whipped around to stare at him. “My name’s Katakuri,” he said more forcefully.  

“Katakuri… Huh. I feel like I’ve heard that before…. You know, I-”  

Whatever it was the khan was about to say got caught off by the sound of another person approaching. Law held his breath as the khan’s feet disappeared from his limited vision and the sound of hushed voices and a light scuffle broke out.  

Then, after a few tense minutes, the khan’s sandaled feet returned.  

“Zoro says we have to leave now. The guards are done drinking, and he doesn’t want us to get caught over here. I have to go take care of some business, but I’ll be back as soon as I can! Stay safe in there, okay? I’ll be back in no time, and we’ll get you out then!” 

“You’re being awfully optimistic about this,” Law said. The khan only laughed at that before scampering away.  

His happy laughter stuck with Law for the rest of the night, even after he sang Bonney to sleep and found himself staring at the ceiling for hours.  

* * *

The khan returned two nights later, this time calling for “Katakuri” at the top of his lungs.  

“The guards are all passed out because they were having a drinking contest with Zoro. He won obviously- he’s really good at drinking contests!” was the explanation that Law got.  

“Oh, hey!” he exclaimed. “I figured out why I know your name! Well actually, I told Zoro, and he figured it out for me, shishishi! He said you went missing out in the Unclaimed Wastes- which is weird since, you know, you’re obviously here right now. He said you were supposed to be dead and to be cautious of what you tell me, but I think he’s just being paranoid. After all, you and I are supposed to get married someday! Aren’t we supposed to trust each other?” 

Law flinched at the khan’s words, throat burning with the words that threatened to escape. Whoever this Zoro was, he clearly wasn’t as stupid- er, trusting- as the khan. What if he found out that Law wasn’t actually one of Big Mom’s children? Masquerading as nobility was a crime punishable by death. And yeah, being shut in this tower for seven years was almost a death sentence in its own right, but he’d take it over getting beheaded in the city square.  

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, replaying the story he’d made to cover for this scenario in his head before speaking. “I was fighting there, that’s true. The reports that I went missing were…. a little less true. I returned home, but we kept it hush hush. My mother called me back to tell me about my engagement with Lord Kaidou,” he said. He’d been working out the details with Bonney ever since that first night the khan came to visit. She had been upset with him at first for using her brother’s name to trick the khan- not wanting to sully her brother’s reputation, but in the end it was agreed that his decision had been for the best. They also agreed that their story would work best if it had some truth to it, so he twisted some of the details from Bonney’s life to better fit “Katakuri’s” role.  

“She tried to convince me to marry him, but then when I told her about you she locked me up in here. She wants me to marry him to strengthen the relationship between Titor’s Garden and Thoughts of Under. She’s just saying that I’m missing because it’s less shameful for her this way to pretend like the one she locked up was my little sister and not one of her sons instead.” 

Honestly, the way society treated women sometimes was ridiculous. If there was one thing Law was grateful for in his life it was that he was born a man because society really tried its damnedest to act like women were beneath men.  

He paused, waiting to hear what the khan’s reaction would be. Would he take his friend’s advice and think critically about the tale that Law had told him? Would he discover the truth of Law and Bonney’s situation? Law’s stomach twisted painfully at the thought of what the khan would do when he discovered their deception.  

After a few more tense moments the khan finally replied. “Your mom is dumb,” he said with all the boyish innocence of a child that didn’t understand the horrors of the world. He said it so plainly that Law nearly thought he imagined it, but even he couldn’t have pictured anyone saying something like that about Charlotte Linlin. Not in her own territory anyway.  

He couldn’t quite quench the laughter that bubbled up out of his throat at the absurdity of the whole situation, but he did his best to stifle it in his sleeve after the first unexpected guffaw broke out.  

Across the room, Bonney hid her smile in her sleeves as well.  

Although he couldn’t see anything besides the khan’s feet, he could practically feel his cheerfulness radiating through the tower walls. “You have a nice laugh, Kuri,” he said.  

Law felt his face heat up and adjusted his position from where he sat against the wall. “Kuri?” he managed to squeak out.  

The khan chuckled. “Yeah! Your whole name’s a mouthful, so I shortened it!” 

“No one’s ever called me that before,” he mumbled; despite the fact that nobody would have done that because his name was actually Law, he highly doubted anyone had called the real Katakuri that either.  

“Good! That means I have a special name for you! I think you ought to have a special name if we’re gonna get married some day! Shishishi!” 

“You’re too generous, my khan,” he said dryly.  

There was a muffled thumping sound that Law thought sounded kind of like the other boy was stomping his foot. “Hey, Kuri! You can’t just call me ‘khan’ all the time! That’s just what strangers call me when I have to go to formal events! Call me Luffy!” he demanded.  

Law huffed. “You’re such a child, you know that?” Ordinarily he would never talk so brazenly to a noble, but the more time he spent with  _Luffy_ the less he seemed to care. It was surprisingly easy to talk with him.  

“Well, I’m only fifteen! Nami says I probably won’t mature until I’m at least one hundred, shishishi!” 

Fifteen, huh? That meant he was just under two years younger than Law, whose seventeenth birthday had passed quietly in his new home.  

“You’re pretty young to be ruling then,” Law replied. Very young. He suddenly worried about the wellbeing of Song for Evela if Kaidou attacked twice fold.  

Luffy simply laughed again. “Yeah, that’s what everyone says! But I’m kind of just a placeholder until my dad gets back! He’s been doing stuff out in the Unclaimed Wastes for a long time, but he’ll be back someday! Until then it looks like I’ll still be khan!” 

Law vaguely recalled his tutor saying something along those lines once, but the man hadn’t elaborated on it. He wondered if Luffy’s father was still alive or if his son was holding onto a pipe dream.  

He snapped out of his stupor when Luffy began firing off questions about Titor’s Garden. He could think about all this other information later.  

They’d have plenty of days to talk to each other before Luffy left.  

* * *

“I’m bored, Kuri.” 

“Well, what do you want me to do about that?” 

“I dunno, is there anything you want to do?” 

“….” 

“Kuri?” 

“Could you…. Will you tell me what the sky looks like right now?” 

“The sky?” 

“Yes. Will you do that for me, please?” 

“Okay. Yeah. Let’s see…” 

* * *

_Luffy told me that the sky was bright today. That kind of endless blue without a single cloud in sight that makes you feel like_ _you’re_ _part of something far bigger than you’ll ever understand. The kind of blue sky that makes it seem like everyone belonged under it together._  

_He’s optimistic like that. I don’t usually buy into that kind of nonsense, but when Luffy says it he sounds so sure of himself that it almost makes me believe that he could make it happen._  

_When we talk it makes my shoulders feel_ _lighter._ _Lighter than they’ve felt in a long time. It makes my problems feel a little more distant, a little less stressful. When we talk I can even forget about the rats that somehow made it into the tower’s cellar where our food is stocked._  

_I think in another life, Luffy and I could actually be friends. Without the titles, without the secrets._  

_I’ll probably look back at what I’ve written in this journal later on and scoff at it. It sounds so stupid._ ~~_But I want it._ ~~  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> law you poor bastard, get ready to fall hard and fast


	3. Goodbye

Luffy continued to visit the tower every day over the next two weeks. Mostly he came by himself while Zoro distracted the guards, but occasionally the younger boy would inform him that his friend had shown up while the guards were passed out drunk or whatever the two had done to keep them away. He never said a word, but Law could feel his presence the way one would watch a mug teeter dangerously on the edge of a table, waiting for the weight to drop and shatter the comfortable arrangement between him and Luffy.  

Eventually, he came to the conclusion that while it was good to be cautious, Zoro seemed unlikely to contribute anything to their conversations besides the occasional disruption to correct something Luffy had said. His voice was always too quiet for Law to hear more than an indistinct mumble, but he could hear the teasing familiarity in it, and it made his chest ache.  

Not out of jealousy, mind you. That would be ridiculous. There was no reason for him to be jealous just because Luffy was close to someone else. Actually, he was close to  _many_  other people, according to all the stories he told Law. Very close. It wasn’t important or anything. Luffy was allowed to like whoever the hell he wanted to.  

…Okay,  _fine_ , Law may have been a  _little_  jealous. So, what? It’s not like he’d made a lot of friends since Flevance. Of course he would feel a little possessive about one of the first friends he’d made in years. That was all. It had nothing to do with the way his cheeks would flush whenever Luffy complimented him off-handedly, or the way his heart sometimes seemed ready to squeeze straight out of his chest whenever their meetings would end.  

He absolutely did not have feelings for the idiot.  

Because that would be terrible. Not only was he stuck in a tower for the next seven years, Luffy would have to leave eventually. Also there was that whole thing about how he was masquerading as gentry while being, you know,  _not gentry_ , but also pretending to be engaged to the moron. While his actual fiancé silently sat near them.  

Ancestors help him, he was so fucked.  

“I brought you a present!” Luffy exclaimed.  

Law arched an eyebrow, although he knew the other wouldn’t be able to see it. “A present?” What in the world would he have brought? 

Luffy only laughed at the disbelief in his voice. “Hold out your hand,” he insisted.  

Law obliged, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He swore, that hyperactive child better not put something gross or slimy in his hand, or so help him he’d knock down the damn walls of the tower himself just to smack him upside the head. 

Much to his relief, the khan did not put anything gross or slimy in his hand. When he drew his arm back from the metal hatch, he found a small pine bough tucked in his palm. 

“I thought you might like to have something from outside! There’re no flowers or anything growing out here since it’s autumn, but I think this is better anyway! I think it smells better than flowers too. I don’t really get why everyone thinks flowers are so great,” he rambled on as Law held the bough to his face and took a deep breath, letting his eyes fall closed and just enjoying the scent. He imagined what the world looked like outside the tower, of bright colored leaves falling and the grass turning brown until it started to snow and the ground was blanketed in thick white powder. He thought of cold nights spent curled up by the fire with a warm drink in his hands while Cora sat nearby.  

“Do you like it?” 

He shook himself out of his daydreams, dropping the pine bough from his face. “Yes,” he whispered. Then a little louder, “Yes. Thank you, Luffy. I love it.” And he really meant it.  

He could practically see the smile spreading across the khan’s face, regardless of the bricks that separated them.  

Luffy laughed again. “Good! Hey, can I tell you something, Kuri? I don’t want you to get offended- Nami’s always telling me to keep my mouth shut, but I want to say something to you.” 

Law felt something cold settle into the pit of his stomach. Had Luffy finally figured out that he’d been deceived this whole time? Was there some weird etiquette thing about pine boughs that he’d forgotten that Luffy had been testing him with? Did gentry normally have something against giving each other twigs? 

He had to calm down, but it was difficult when Luffy had actually asked him if it was okay to speak- he’d never done that before. Law didn’t think the kid had a filter for anything that came out of his mouth.  

He took a steadying breath and tried to keep the panic from edging into his voice. “Go ahead,” he said.  

“You have a nice looking hand,” was the reply.  

Law’s brain short-circuited for a moment. Out of all the things he’d been expecting to hear, that had not been on the list.  

“My- my hand?” he stuttered out, flabbergasted. He looked down at his palms, belatedly thanking the gods that he’d reached out with his right hand and not the left one that was covered in sickly looking white patches. Luffy would probably think differently if he’d seen that hand.  

Across the room, Bonney looked down to frown at her own hands, pale and delicate looking. Hers were far nicer looking than Law’s, he couldn’t help but notice.  

There was a soft chuckle from the other side of the wall. “Yeah. It’s pretty,” he said in that simple way of his.  

Law felt his face heat up and made a point of not looking in Bonney’s direction to see her reaction.  

“Oh! I also brought this for you!” he preened, thrusting a bag of something through the hatch. “It’s meat! Zoro and I went hunting earlier,” he explained.  

Law took the bag from his outstretched hand, speechless for a moment. “That’s…. That’s very kind of you, Luffy. Really, I- thank you. We appreciate it,” he said.  

“Shishishi! Well, Zoro mentioned that you probably don’t get any fresh meat in there! And that’s no good! Meat is the best! I bet you guys have dried meat, but that’s not as good!” 

“It’s not so bad,” Law replied. “The food’s fine as long as we can keep the rats out of it.” 

“You have rats?” 

He hadn’t meant to mention that, but it slipped out when he wasn’t thinking. “Well, yeah. It’s to be expected I suppose. We’ve done our best to keep them at bay, but it is what it is,” he said, shrugging.  

Luffy made a disgruntled sound. “Zoro’s waving at me that it’s time to go, but I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?” 

Law smiled, just a tiny bit. “Okay. Talk to you then, Luffy.” 

* * *

The next evening Luffy arrived, oddly downtrodden.  

“Is something wrong?” Law asked.  

There was a pause long enough to make him wonder if the younger boy had heard him, but just when he was about to ask again, the khan spoke. “I don’t like that you’re stuck in there because of me. Or because of your mom. You shouldn’t be trapped in there. I want to tear down this stupid tower and take you away with me, but Zoro says I can’t, and I hate it!” he burst out.  

Law sat there in silence, thinking of what to say. Luffy had always been so upbeat and positive, it was weird to hear him so frustrated and disheartened. He briefly wondered if the boy would cry, and the thought alone twisted something painfully in his chest.  

“Luffy…” he began, but before he could continue, he was cut off.  

“It’s not fair! You deserve to be out here, to be free! Your mom is just a big jerk for locking you up like this just because we got engaged first and not that stupid Kaidou! You should be coming home with me,” he said. His voice cracked a little at the last sentence, and Law had to press the heels of his palms to his eyes to try and relieve some of the burning he felt build up in the back of them.  

“Zoro says we have to leave tomorrow. We’ve been gone from Song for Evela too long, and people are getting restless. There’s talk about war with Thoughts of Under, and they need me and him back,” he said quietly.  

He took a few shuddering breaths to try and control himself, suddenly very grateful that Bonney had decided to tuck in early for the night and wasn’t there to see him try his damndest not to cry. Gods, how he wanted to leave this place. To knock down his prison and run away with the boy on the other side. But he couldn’t.  

“Luffy,” he croaked out softly. “Listen, I- I know it’s hard, but don’t get upset, okay? It’s not that bad in here. I’ll be okay,” he lied. “Don’t worry about us, alright? You- you have to leave us in this tower, okay? If you try and break us out it will just cause war for Song for Evela and Titor’s Garden. My mother would never let us go that easily, and it might prompt war for you and Thoughts of Under too. So just… just leave us here for now. Seven years isn’t that long.” 

“That’s almost half the time I’ve been alive, Kuri,” Luffy pouted. 

Law huffed- in amusement or annoyance he wasn’t sure. “Well, we have a whole lifetime ahead of us. In the grand scheme of things, seven years isn’t that long.” 

“I guess…” 

“Go back home, Luffy. Take care of your people, and don’t worry about us here,” he said lightly, but every word felt like a dagger in his chest.  

“I’ll come back for you,” Luffy insisted. “I’ll come visit you again- every year! I promise!” 

Law smiled sadly at that. “Okay.” 

“I mean it, Kuri!” Luffy huffed.  

He felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest at the sound of his fake name. What would he give to hear Luffy say his real name?  

“I’ll be waiting,” he said softly.  

Luffy left a short while after, and Law cried himself to sleep for the first time since Cora died. 

* * *

“Psst! Kuri!” 

“Luffy?” 

“I came to say goodbye! And to give you a farewell present!” 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Law told him, although he appreciated the gesture. Luffy really was a good guy.  

“Shishishi! Sure I did! That’s what you do for people you like! Here!” he cheered, shoving something through the hatch that looked like a lump of white fur.  

Law caught it instinctively and nearly had a heart attack when he realized it was a live animal. “Is this…a bear?!” he exclaimed, holding it at arm’s length and scanning the now wriggling lump.  

“Yeah! I found it this morning! I couldn’t find a cat, but I thought maybe it would help with your rat problem,” he laughed, voice full of pride. It was a sweet sentiment, but Law honestly had no idea if bears would actually catch rats. There were a thousand other things to factor into the new arrival as well- like what was it going to eat? How much of their limited supply was going to go to taking care of it? How big was it going to grow? Would it attack them? 

“Luffy-” he began to turn down the present, but something stopped him before he could. A little voice in his head told him that it was given out of concern, and that he shouldn’t refuse what was possibly the last thing the khan would ever give him. Besides, if the bear was tame and grew big enough, maybe they could use it to break out someday.  

“-thank you.” He held the little bear closer, who blinked at him with wide brown eyes.  

He couldn’t see his face- had never seen his face- but he could tell Luffy was smiling. “What are you gonna name him?” 

Law thought for a moment. Then he answered, “Bepo.” He ignored the way Bonney’s face scrunched up at that. If she had a choice she’d probably name him after some kind of food. Like marshmallows or snow cones.  

“That’s a funny name,” Luffy laughed. 

“Shut up.” 

Luffy only laughed harder. Law felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards as he cradled the cub in one of his arms and started stroking the soft fur on his belly. It gurgled quietly and flopped its limbs about happily.  

When his laughter died down, Luffy spoke again. “I can’t stay long. Zoro and I have to head out in a few minutes. I’ll miss you, Kuri,” he said solemnly.  

Law’s throat constricted. “I’ll miss you too,” he said softly.  

“I’ll come back next year, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

They sat there silently for a minute, unwilling to break the fragile moment. Maybe if they were quiet they could go on pretending like Luffy wasn’t about to leave, and Law wasn’t about to spend a year locked in the tower without his company.  

“Hey, Luffy?” 

“Yeah, Kuri?” 

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Can you tell me what the sky looks like tonight?” 

“Sure,” he replied, and Law heard him shift against the other side of the wall. “Hmm. The moon is gone, but all the stars are out. Even the baby ones. There’s so many of them that even the darkest parts of the sky look blue instead of black.” He closed his eyes and pictured it in his mind’s eye. Somehow, sitting like this and listening to Luffy say goodbye reminded him of when he was sick with the white plague, looking up at the shivering sky and singing softly for the tears he had run out for his family, his home, and his life.  

A soft scuffling and a low voice signaled Zoro’s arrival. “I have to go. Goodbye, Kuri,” Luffy said quietly for once.  

“Goodbye, Luffy.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, i almost made bepo a cat like in the original book, but i was like nah this is one piece he's gonna be a bear it's cool
> 
> luffy will return obviously, if not in the next chapter then in the one after that


	4. Waiting for Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> winter sucks, kaido is even worse, but luffy leaving again is definitely the worst of all

Fall faded into winter, bringing bitter cold and winds that howled around the stones of the tower. It did nothing to improve Bonney’s paranoid condition, and Law couldn’t even blame her imagination for it anymore. There was something about the screeching wind and constant lack of sunlight that would make cold seep into his bones and doubt crawl into his mind. Some nights he swore he could hear sinister laughter with the wind.  

He busied himself with whatever meager tasks he could, writing in the dim candlelight whenever he had nothing else to do. There wasn’t much to write about. It was mainly just recounting his daily routine and whatever nightmares came creeping to him in the darkest hours. It was maddening to be stuck in the same routine, over and over, day after day, but it almost made the weeks pass by quicker.  

He almost let himself get lost in the daily schedule that rarely changed. 

Wake up. Go down to the well and break up the layer of ice that had frozen over the top during the night. Let the freezing water freshen him up. Make breakfast. Wake Bonney. Sing to her. Fill the day with menial tasks. Make dinner. Put Bonney to bed. Write about the day. Sleep. Repeat.  

The one thing that kept him going and kept him from falling into too much of a rut was Bepo.  

He would have spoiled him rotten and fed him scraps of meat all day if he could, but that wasn’t really an option unless he wanted to die much sooner than he planned. He settled for petting him and brushing his fur and singing to him instead.  

He’d been concerned about their food supply when Luffy had gifted the bear to him, but his concerns were unwarranted. Much to his surprise, it turned out that Bepo was an excellent rat hunter. And Bepo enjoyed eating the rodents as well, so Law didn’t have to feed him as often as he originally thought. It was like killing two birds with one stone. Luffy’s second gift had been far more useful than he’d ever imagined.  

Law had kept the khan’s first gift as well, although the needles were yellow and the smell had faded long ago. Still, sometimes he would hold it to his nose and breathe in the memory of what it used to be, and wish very secretly that the boy who had given it to him was still there.  

Even with Bepo and Luffy’s promise to return, the days seemed gray and lifeless to Law. There was so little to occupy him.  

The only time that he ever had to do any activity was when the smoke from their fire had gotten so thick that Law thought they were going to suffocate there in the tower before spring even came. He had bundled Bonney up in all their blankets before smothering their fire and climbing into the chimney to unblock it. His hands had been blue by the time he had cleared it completely out, and his teeth chattered painfully in his mouth.  

It took him four fumbling attempts with his shaking hands to relight the fire, and afterwards he’d stayed next to it for hours until he could finally feel warmth back in his skin again.  

Bonney hadn’t even seemed to notice.  

It felt like she got worse and worse every day. The tears would have frozen on her cheeks if Law didn’t keep her close to the fire or wipe them away for her. He sang and he sang, and none of the help it brought lasted for long, if it came at all.  

He went through six jars of honey that winter, and his throat still hurt from overuse.  

At night, or at least what he thought was night- it was so hard to tell shut up in the tower- he prayed to Evela, the goddess of Sunlight to come back and end the dreadful winter. But the days were as dark and dreary as ever. Goda, the goddess of sleep seemed to haunt the realm instead.  

When spring did finally appear, it didn’t bring the feeling of hope or relief with it like he had hope. It brought something much worse.  

He thought life was going to get better- forced himself to be stubbornly optimistic under the horrible circumstances. The air had lost its biting cold, and the floor no longer froze his feet when he walked across it in the morning. He thought their days in their prison would take a turn for the better. He thought Luffy would return.  

One day he heard voices outside the tower. He had been hoping to hear Luffy’s voice again after so long without it, he hadn’t noticed that the terror in Bonney’s eyes had been different than normal.  

He propped open the hatch before she could warn him in time. “Law wait-!” 

Quick as a whip, a hand reached in and grabbed his arm with a vicious grip that almost made Law cry out. It was huge, barely fitting through the hatch, covered in a black gauntlet that was adorned with metal spikes. He had no doubt that the man on the other end could crush his arm with ease if he tried.  

“Do I have her? Have I finally caught my lady?” a deep rumbling voice asked.  

Law’s heart beat frantically in his chest. “No, no my lord. I’m sorry, you do not,” he babbled out. Suddenly he felt like a child again. It was like he was running through the woods with Vergo on his heels and Doflamingo’s laughter ringing in his ears.  

The hand released him, and he snatched it back as fast as he could.  

“PUT YOUR ARM BACK!” he bellowed. The command was so loud that Law thought the tower was going to crumble in on itself and crush them. Hesitantly, he obeyed. Every fiber of his being screamed for him not to, but a primal part of him understood that if he didn’t then somehow the monster out there would find a way to do something worse to him.  

Gloved fingers tickled the back of his hand and combined with the rumbling chuckle outside, it made Law’s breath stutter in his chest.  

“So, if it’s not my lady, and I see that it’s not now in the proper light- who is this?” 

“I’m her manservant,” he croaked out. He didn’t think he’d ever been so scared in his life- not even with Doflamingo. Although there was something about him that reminded him of the pink feathered man. Perhaps all gentry from Thoughts of Under were really just monsters in human skin.  

Law’s answer made the man laugh loud and hard. It was like boulders falling against each other and shattering in a landslide. Law wanted to crawl back to the other side of the tower and cower.  

A bone jarring slap knocked his hand against the outer wall of his prison, tearing a cry of pain from his lips. It stung like he’d been attacked by a nest of hornets. He pulled his arm closer to himself out of reflex.  

“Put it back,” was the quiet command he got. He put his hand back.  

“Good boy.” His voice was as sweet as honey, but cold as ice. He slapped his hand again, and Law staggered from the blow. He thought he might have been crying, but it wasn’t just from the physical pain. It came from something much deeper inside him that he couldn’t quite name.  

A third slap had Bonney grabbing him under his arms and pulling him away. Together they huddled against the far wall and clutched each other like their lives depended on it.  

“Go away!” Bonney screamed, but her voice quavered and was nearly drowned out by the laughter on the other side.  

“But I came all this way to see you, my lady. You know,” he began, and his voice grew sickly sweet again, “Your mother came to see me in my realm. She told me how she’d thrown you in this tower for your insolence. ‘Go and tear down the walls! Take what is yours by force! She is nothing but garbage to me so long as she refuses to bow down to your will!’ she told me. And why wouldn’t she? She spoke so grandly, but I could see her knees shake, just as everyone else’s do. She’s just like every other woman in the end. Only good for breeding- isn’t that why you have so many brothers and sisters? She’s like a rabbit, that one.” 

He’d like to say that Bonney grew fierce again, that some of her old spark returned, but she did not. She covered her face in her hands and cried. Law rubbed his non-stinging hand against her back and sang quietly to her, barely able to make his voice louder than a whisper at that point. He rather thought his voice had shriveled up inside him.  

“But you’re not your mother are you? You won’t take nearly so many husbands- all you’ll have is me.” He sounded so smug at that. “I remember the first time we met, my lady. You were such a lovely little thing, dressed in copper silk. You were what, twelve? You were so quiet because your mother would glare at you if you opened your mouth. Your eyes were so dull from boredom. But that didn’t last long, did?” he laughed.  

“How wide and terrified your eyes were after that night in my castle. You had little mouse eyes, the eyes of prey! How I love that look in your pretty brown eyes. You should be honored, my lady. There is only one other who I’ve ever let seen me feast and live to tell the tale! But I knew that you’d never tell anyone our little secret.” 

There were so many things hidden in what he was saying, but Law had no idea what any of it meant. He would have asked Bonney if he wasn’t so terrified.  

“I could knock down these tower walls if I wanted. It would be so easy. And your foolish mother would cheer me on. But I won’t. And do you know why, my lady? Because in the end, you’ll choose me over these stones that trap you. You’ll come willingly into my arms.” His words were whispered but they filled the whole room.  

They heard him stomp away after that, but they stayed rooted to the spot long after he left.  

Minutes, hours, who knows how long after that- Law finally peeled himself away. He turned to look in her frightened eyes and spoke softly. “That was Kaido, wasn’t it?” He understood perfectly now why it was that she’d been so adamant about not marrying the lord.  

She nodded weakly. “I knew… I knew after that first night that I could never marry him. He’s a monster,” she whispered, eyes wide as saucers. “That’s why I started writing the khan. I didn’t know him well, but I knew the rumors. And when we were writing I could tell… I could tell he was safe.” Tears slipped down her cheeks and past her trembling lips.  

“Bonney…” he began slowly. “What did he mean? About feasting? And how you should be honored? What was he talking about?” he tried to make himself as reassuring as possible, but he could see her shutter herself away internally. She turned away and didn’t answer.  

They were both silent the rest of the day, not even speaking when night finally fell. Not even Bepo could warm the cold dread that had settled in his chest.  

* * *

The next day he managed to catch a passing guard’s attention. He asked him if Lord Kaido had left, and the guard answered that he had, and good riddance to him.  

Feeling braver, Law asked if the lord had hurt any of them.  

“Not much. Nothing that will last.” There was a shuffling sound, like he was shifting his weight.  

It had been so long since Law had spoken to another soul besides Bonney- Kaido was a soulless monster, so he didn’t count. He was desperate for it to last just a little longer.  

“What does the sky look like today?” 

A soft snort. “The sky? It looks like the sky. Just blue, like it always is.” But Law knew it wasn’t always like that. Sure, they called it the Eternal Blue Sky, but it was so much more than that. He thought of its midnight colors, sprinkled with light, of sunsets streaked with red and orange and purple.  

“Is there any news of my lady’s house? Or of the rest of Titor’s Garden?” 

Harsh laughter rang out in the open air. “Nothing that concerns someone that’s locked away in a tower. You’re never coming out of there unless Kaido breaks you out, and even then he’s more likely to break a manservant’s neck than keep you around. Be grateful you’re trapped in your stone walls, boy. Nothing out here belongs to you anymore.”  

His words were spoken with a laugh, but there was a pitying edge to it. Law could tell that he felt sorry for them. But more than that, he felt sorry that he felt sorry for them. He supposed it was easier to be cruel than sympathetic to the poor fools trapped in the tower. Still, it made Law’s insides churn and his mouth taste bitter.  

He sang the song for cold hearts quietly, listened as the man shuffled on his feet some more while he listened for a moment before walking away.  

* * *

A few weeks later, true spring came with the sound of Luffy’s laughter.  

Law nearly cried when he heard the other’s voice on the other side of the hatch. He wrenched it open and let the khan’s happiness seep into the tower.  

“Kuri, I missed you!” 

“I missed you too, Luffy.” And for the first time in a long time, he felt the tension that built up over the months release from his body.  

* * *

Luffy couldn’t stay long this year. The situation with Thoughts of Under hadn’t gotten any better, and his advisors had almost not let him come at all, but Luffy had been adamant. After all, he’d promised.  

Still, things in Song for Evela were tense, and he’d had to concede to cut his visit to a short week. Law understood why things had to be this way, but it didn’t make his heart hurt any less. He couldn’t even bring himself to pretend like Luffy hadn’t become the one thing that he looked forward to most in his miserable life. He was well past self-denial. He knew he was in love with him.  

And wasn’t that just a bitch and a half.  

What would he give to actually be engaged to the khan? To be someone Luffy could actually marry in the first place? 

It didn’t do well to think on such things. He tried to focus on something else instead.  

“Are you alright? You sound like you’re in pain,” he said. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but after talking for a little while he could hear the slight discomfort in the other’s voice.  

“Hmm? Oh, my leg’s just a little sore. I got caught in the leg with an antler when Chopper and I were fooling around.” A muffled complaint from someone else made him reword his answer. “Okay, I got hurt when  _I_ was fooling around, and Chopper was busy,” he pouted.  

Law would have smiled at that if it didn’t bring up such worrying imagery. “May I help?” he asked without thinking.  

“Sure! Help with what?” 

He nearly facepalmed. “With the pain, dummy. Put your leg out.”  

Luffy did as told, though he clearly didn’t understand what the point was. “Do you have something to put on it? Because Chopper already did everything he could, and it’s all healed up. It just hurts a little sometimes.” 

“No. I’m going to sing you a healing song.” 

“A healing song? What’s that?” His body flopped to the ground out of Law’s reach. 

“What do you think? It’s a song that’s supposed to help heal you.” 

“How does that work?” 

“Will you just put your fucking leg back, so I can work?” he sighed. He loved him, but he was such a child sometimes.  

Luffy’s bright laughter made him smile as the other placed his leg back so Law could put his hand on it. He carefully ran his fingers over the scarred skin of his calf.  

“Does Kuri have any scars?” he asked innocently. Law thought of the white patches that marred his tan skin, but technically they weren’t scars…  

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “No.” 

Luffy hummed thoughtfully. “That’s too bad. I thought we could compare.” 

Law ignored him, placing his hand fully over the old injury, and began to sing.  

Luffy was uncharacteristically quiet for once, not making a sound until Law was finished and removed his hand. He rolled his leg around a bit before standing up and walking around on it. Despite the lack of words, Law could tell it had worked, and prided himself on the fact that he could help Luffy out even just a little while he was locked up.  

“That’s amazing,” Luffy said as he came to sit by the hatch again. “I didn’t know singing could do that. I mean, the shamans chant and stuff, but they don’t sing like you do. Where did you learn to do that?” 

He knew he could probably tell Luffy more or less the truth about his childhood without the khan connecting the dots, but he was overly aware of the fact that there were two of his advisors with him this time. Zoro hadn’t been the only one to come along on the journey, as Luffy’s advisors felt it wasn’t safe enough without at least one more person in their party. He struggled to remember which one he said it was- Usopp? He thought that was his name. He was pretty sure Luffy had also mentioned in the past that Usopp was a genius. So he didn’t tell Luffy about growing up in Flevance.  

“My maid is a mucker. They have all sorts of songs in the Steppes. She taught me them to pass the time.” The lie tasted bitter on his tongue.  

“So she taught you all the words and everything? And you learned it that quickly?” 

“The words aren’t really that important. It’s the sound of the words and the tune together that’s what matters. They speak in a language the body understands. The body wants to be whole again, and when you sing the right sounds, you remind it how to heal itself,” he explained, citing the answer that his mother had given him. 

Luffy proceeded to talk about how cool that was for the next hour. He only stopped when Zoro’s rough voice told him they had to go.  

The next evening, the khan returned and asked him to sing for him again.  

“Your leg is hurting you again?” 

“No! Your song worked really good yesterday! I just want to hear you sing again!” he laughed.  

Law shouldn’t have been so surprised, but he was so shocked he didn’t know what to say. If it wasn’t for healing, then why would Luffy want to hear him sing? He asked him as much, but only got more laughter as a reply.  

“Hasn’t anyone asked for you just to sing to them, Kuri?” 

“ _No_ ,” he said. And he wasn’t lying.  

Luffy gasped. “Really? But your voice is so good! You could probably rival Evela!” 

Law found himself grateful for the walls that blocked the khan from seeing how red his face was. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he mumbled. Luffy roared with laughter.  

Rival Evela? Was he insane? Law wasn’t a bad singer by any means, but he certainly wasn’t the kind you’d sit to listen to. Especially not now, with the state of his voice. It was raspy from all the time he spent singing to Bonney- it was not nearly nice enough for Luffy to be praising it so. He buried his burning face in Bepo’s soft fur.  

He forced the conversation onto other topics, but the next few days Luffy constantly badgered him to sing for him. Law refused because he was far too embarrassed to.  

Eventually though, he broke down and acquiesced to his request. If only to get him to stop pestering him. “What do you want me to sing?” he sighed. 

“I dunno. Sing something you like. Something nice.” 

Law held back a groan. All he ever sang these days were healing songs. It felt weird to even consider singing something else. But he didn’t want to disappoint the khan. He mulled it over in his head before a song from his childhood sprang to mind. It was the song that his parents used to sing to each other every night as the day faded.  

It was also, of course, a love song, but as soon as it popped into his head he immediately forgot every single other song he knew. Figures.  

He started out quietly, barely daring to make a sound. “Take it easy with me, please,” he sang, “Touch me gently like a summer evening breeze.” He very pointedly ignored how hot his face felt and the look that Bonney gave him. Instead he focused on singing, and only singing, letting his eyes shut and memories of warm evenings listening to his parents’ duet envelop him.  

He didn’t even realize he still knew all the words, but then again, it was a very ingrained moment of his childhood.  

He sang verse after verse, letting his voice grow a little more sure, a little less shy. By the time he got to the last chorus he was singing as he normally would. And he let himself imagine, just for a moment, that he could see Luffy in front of him, smiling at him while they watched the sunset together.  

It occurred to him that this song was probably as close to a confession that he would ever get, so he let the truth of his feelings seep into his voice, and secretly hoped that Luffy would feel them too.  

“I’m your music,” he confessed, “I’m your song. Play me time, and time again, and make me strong.” The words seemed to flow out of him like a river rushing past a dam.  

When the last words came, he was almost breathless from how incredibly full his chest felt. “Andante, andante. _Oh please_ … don’t let me down,” he finished softly, leaning his head back and letting his eyes fall open.  

The very air felt like it was holding its breath, and Law briefly wondered if he should just end his humiliation by smothering himself in Bepo’s fur until Luffy broke the silence.  

“That was really beautiful, Kuri. Thank you.” His voice was so gentle Law almost thought he might cry. Which was ridiculous because there wasn’t anything to cry about. Nothing sad anyways. He just felt… relieved. And oddly at peace with himself, which was an unfortunately rare occurrence these days.  

Luffy left shortly after, but he came back the next night to say goodbye once more.  

“Someday, Kuri, I’m going to break you out of there, and we’ll throw a great feast! I’ll cover you in midnight silk and diamonds, and watch you dance and laugh, and nothing will ever make you sad again!” he declared.  

Law chuckled quietly to himself at that. “Midnight silk and diamonds? Why on earth would you do that?” He’d probably look ridiculous. Never mind the fact that it would never happen.  

“Because your voice reminds me of the night. Like rich, velvety darkness and starlight.” That shut Law up real quick. Bonney’s eyes were practically burning holes into the side of his head.  

Murmuring outside signaled that Zoro and Usopp were probably going to take Luffy away soon. The khan confirmed his suspicions with his next sentence. “Zoro says we have to go soon. Can I-,” he huffed loudly when someone interrupted him and then shushed them, which prompted more murmuring before it quieted down again.  

Law fiddled with the edge of his scarf, not wanting to think of how lonely and colorless his days were going to be once Luffy left.  

“Hey, Kuri?” He hummed noncommittally. “Can I have something to remember you by?” He stopped fiddling with his scarf. 

“I-” he stammered, trying to get his whirling thoughts in order. “Like what?” 

Luffy’s hand reached out to rest on the edge of the hatch. “Anything at all. I just- I’ve never even seen you before. Sometimes it feels like this is all a dream that I won’t remember if I don’t have something to hold onto,” he confessed. 

Law understood the sentiment. He looked at the fire, remembering how distraught he felt when he’d thrown the dead pine bough into it, once he finally admitted there was no use in keeping it anymore. At least he still had Bepo to remind him of how much Luffy cared for him.  

He didn’t have anything like that to give to him though. His resources were obviously limited. But he had to give him  _something_.  

He unwound the scarf from his neck.  

It was yellow wool- he’d made it with Cora. He remembered dipping it carefully into the bucket of dye, and how Cora had managed to knock the bucket over when they were done, staining his hands hands yellow for the next week.  

Carefully, he pressed it into Luffy’s hand.  

“Take good care of it,” he whispered. He promised he would, and Law could hear the reverence in his voice. 

“Kuri? Will you sing me that song one last time?” he asked quietly.  

Law closed his eyes, took a deep breath to hold back the stinging sensation in the back of his eyes, and sang.  

By the end of the song, Luffy was humming quietly along, and his fingers were curled over the tips of Law’s. He thought his heart might burst.  

“I won’t let you down,” he promised softly. “I’ll come back for you.” He kissed the back of Law’s fingers, startling a little gasp out of him, and then he was gone.  

Law prayed that he would come back soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know what, i'm pretty impressed i wrote this in one night, so go me. ALSO, i'm finally fucking graduated now so thank fuck for THAT, although now it's like "what are you gonna do with your degree and your life?" like idk bro do i seem like the person who plans that far ahead??? the answer is no, and I highly doubt i'm gonna start now
> 
> also yayyyyyyy the plot advances! that's the nice thing about au's like this, is that they have a definitive plot structure i can go off of and now exactly where i am in the story lol. i mean yeah, it's not totally the same cuz like....i don't wanna do that lol, but the basics are there.
> 
> also i'm completely ignoring kaido's canon characterization cuz idgaf and i need him to act like lord khasar from the book so be aware of that lol. i mean it's not like there's that much of kanon kaido to go off of ANYWAYS
> 
> edit: i almost forgot to add these lol  
> I imagine Law to sound like The Magnetic Fields when he sings, so here's a sample of that [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopW5kaceFs)  
> and here's that version of Andante, andante I'm always listening to ;) [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hNEXuHm8OM)


End file.
